Greening Our Equipment

This year, we established a bold goal to reduce our global fleet fuel consumption by 35% per labor hour by 2023 from a 2017 baseline. Since 95 percent of our greenhouse gas emission footprint comes from our corporate fleet, achieving this goal requires innovative equipment. In 2017, the Davey Institute and equipment department partnered with many vendors to pilot lithium-ion battery-powered equipment, such as chainsaws and leaf blowers. Testing the equipment with our residential and commercial business segments, we found that this equipment performs on par with, or better than, gas-powered equipment.

Furthermore, this equipment is substantially quieter and physically less straining on our employees’ arms and hands. Due to the pilot’s success, the Davey Institute endorsed the battery-powered tools for all offices to consider when replacing older equipment. Two offices in Northeast Ohio have already switched exclusively to battery-powered equipment, and we will continue to promote battery-powered equipment throughout our operations in 2018.

“The battery-powered equipment is not only quieter, protecting our employees’ hearing and providing a quieter neighborhood around job sites, it also lowers the risk of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). Compared with gas-powered chainsaws, vibrations in the battery-powered equipment are almost nonexistent.”-Mike Veney, manager of environmental programs